Stargate Millennium: Home Away From Home
by StargateMillennium
Summary: A new spin-off series: Exploring worlds though the stargate is one thing, but sometimes things brought back through the stargate can be just as dangerous. The Millennium Expedition finds out that even the smallest thing may prove to be as dangerous as the big ones.
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING: This is a new spin off which means new characters and new setting. If you are new then I recommend you read the first episode so you know what's happening. Otherwise, please review and enjoy.**

**A/N: Fourth episode. I appreciate any and all support and constructive criticism is always welcome. Please tell me what you think of my story. What did I do well? What can I do better? Enjoy.**

******I also have sput a trailer for this series on youtube.**

** watch?v=cFh4mIbxyko**

**Quick thing about the trailer: it is not just a bunch of random clips with music; I did not put it in there unless it was going to happen in one of my episodes (with a few obvious exceptions). It may be slightly different but similar enough that you can watch the trailer and point out which clip/audio came from which episode. If you see it in the trailer, it will happen in one of the episodes.**

**-.-**

**PROLOGUE**

It has been twenty years; it's been twenty years since the first team of humans was sent to Abydos. Thanks to the massive stone ring known as the stargate, Earth has made enormous leaps technology. They have a fleet of ships ready to defend their planet. They unlocked the secret of the lost city of Atlantis and the mysterious ninth chevron that led to Destiny. But, they had barely scratched the surface of the Alliance of Four Great Races. To this end, Earth has launched a new expedition to the fabled city Millennium, built by all four races. It's a new expedition in a new galaxy, and these are their adventures...

-.-

The Tau'ri from the planet Earth have been kicking around the universe for a little over a decade now. When the stargate was first discovered, this tiny planet made due with the cards they were dealt. Even with the threat of a Goa'uld invasion, these humans carved out a life of ingenuity and a 'never say die' spirit. Back then, Earth may not have had the advanced technology of many of the other races in the galaxy but the fact that they would stand together as a team and fight to the last man and woman made them a force to be reckoned with. In time, the young grew and made friends. They advanced and expanded. The Asgard unofficially declared the the fifth race of the Alliance of Four Great Races. If the Tau'ri are going to prove that they deserve this title, the Millennium Expedition going to have to overcome the challenges the Alliance left behind in the galaxy of Caldwell 70. Whether or not they'll win or even survive, they'll keep fighting as a team with the same attitude and spirit as their predecessors.

-.-

"I'm just saying, I think it sounds stupid," Chen remarked as the team made their way through the forest. It was a pretty calm planet; not an insect around and even the birds were sparse. The only thing for as far as they could see were nothing but plants. The ground was covered in small shrubs that barely made it to their ankles. Enormous trees stretched into the sky and often had small bushes at their base.

"C'mon," Martin insisted. "What's wrong with calling our team the War Birds?"

"How about it sounds stupid," Steven Chen said bluntly as he carefully stepped over a tree root.

"I'm surprised that Millennium teams are nicknaming themselves to begin with," Corin said, thinking that it was funny that squads of trained soldiers were giving their teams nicknames.

"It's not so uncommon," Nova explained, scanning the forest with her P90. "Back on Earth, we gave our F-302 wings nicknames."

"Those are your starfighters, right?" Corin asked when he heard the designation 'F-302'. Nova gave a nod.

"I actually flew a couple missions with the 'Flying Tigers' while at the SGC," she explained. "There were also the 'Death Angels', 'Dragon Riders', and 'Dark Star Titans'. The teams on Millennium are just trying to spice things up with nicknames. It beats constantly saying "Boyer's team" or "Monroe's team"."

Corin just shrugged. He thought that people giving the teams nicknames was interesting but he didn't expect soldiers to be doing it to.

He readjusted his eyes up front and something caught them.

"Hold up," he suddenly said, stopping in his tracks and holding his arm out as if to tell them to stay behind it. The team stopped when they heard his call.

"What is it?" Major Nova asked. Corin eyed the forest in forest in front of them.

"The bush," Corin said. Chen and Martin leaned out to see what Corin was talking about. In front of them was a small bush with large fruits growing on it. It didn't seem to stand out from the rest of the forest. It looked like a regular bush with fruit.

"It's a bush growing blue oranges," Chen said in an unamused tone. Corin didn't answer. Instead, he began scanning the ground for something. He reached down and picked up a fallen tree branch.

"Can someone throw this for me?" Corin asked, looking around. "I'm not exactly the best at…"

"Here," Martin said, taking the tree branch from Corin. Martin gently chucked the tree branch at the bush, the shrubbery rustling as it was hit. The ground around the bush suddenly began to shift as five massive flower petals raised up, sealing up the plant inside it.

"I thought it looked familiar," Corin said nervously as the rest of the team just stared in shock.

"What was that?" Nova asked.

"It's called skantor," Corin explained as the closed flower bud began to shrink as the petals tightened its grip on what was supposed to be inside. "It's basically a carnivorous plant."

"Didn't know you were a biology teacher too," Martin remarked, remembering their alien ally, Corin Nevec, was originally a language and history professor before defecting to their side.

"That's not exactly a fair statement, Martin," Nova pointed out. "We all know what a venus flytrap is." Martin bobbed his head as if to say 'whatever' when he heard this, silently admitting that she was right.

"That's the fifth plant that tried to kill us on this planet," Chen grumbled. "I don't know about you but I don't think this place has anything of value."

"Agreed," Nova said with a nod as steam began to rise from the now sizzling flower bud in front of them. "We're heading back to the stargate." There was no argument from the team as they turned around.

"I've never seen so many carnivorous plants on one planet," Corin said as he followed his team into the forest.

"All we need now are those man-eating plants from Jumanji," Martin said as they made their way back.

"Don't even joke about that," Chen snapped, fearing what Martin would jinix it and they would encounter some plant that would drag one of them off into the underbrush. Nova just chuckled quietly as she walked up to the silver DHD.

"I'll get the MALP," Corin said as he went up to the large rover they left behind. He picked up the remote control off its keypad and began to slowly drive it toward the gate, the machine whirring as it made its way across the ground. There was a thump as it rolled over the root of a nearby tree followed by a gentle hissing. Corin jumped back in fear as a fine mist rained from the tree and onto the MALP. Everyone instinctively turned when they heard the bubbling hiss as the acid began to wear away the equipment. They knew that the machine would soon be nothing but goop and the tree's roots would absorb it.

"Ok, forget the MALP," Corin said, cautiously stepping back as the rover began to deform from the corrosive goop. Nova dialed the gate even faster, not wanting to know what else the planet has in store for them. As she pressed the white opal center of the DHD, the stargate activated. The watery wave shot out of the ring before settling back in as a giant shimmering puddle.

She took out her GDO and punched in the code.

"Let's go," she called to her team. They quickly followed her through the stargate, more than eager to leave this planet behind.

-.-

Millennium was such a welcome sight as her team arrived back, the puddle rippling as they stepped back through. She looked around, taking in the sight of the pearly white floors and walls, of the massive glowing gems hanging from the ceiling. People bustled about, running between the halls to the left and right of the gate. There was a long stair case in front of them that they knew would branch off to the left, to the conference room, and right, to the control room, both of which had a balcony to overlook the stargate.

"Looks like General Mercer's busy with another scientist," Chen pointed out, looking at the window high above the staircase that let him peer into the General's office. Through it, Chen could see a scientist standing with his back toward the window, probably talking to General Mercer.

"C'mon," Nova said, telling her to team to stop wondering and get a move on. They all quickly disappeared down the hall to their left and quickly made their way to the locker rooms.

"Don't forget the meeting," Nova called out as she turned to go to the women's locker room. "Mercer wants all the ranking personnel to attend."

"Guess I'm out," Martin mumbled as he, Chen, and Corin went to the men's locker room. The locker room was nothing spectacular. The floor was an emerald green with a maze of walls all around the room, bronze locker doors lining the walls. Anyone who hasn't already explored and walked around the whole room would probably have gotten lost in what seemed like a pointless muddle of lockers.

"I'm out too," Corin said as they found the three lockers for their team. For convenience sake, teams usually had their lockers side by side.

"Guess you're the only one going," Martin remarked to Chen, who was the ranking personnel of the engineering department.

"There's also Terra," Chen said as he began to take off his gear. "She and Colonel Umar are the two ranking military officers…next to General Mercer."

Corin took a small book out of his vest and put it into his pocket.

"Wonder what the egg head wants from the General this time?" Martin wondered out loud, thinking about the scientist in the General's office. What he didn't know was that he would find out soon enough.

-.-

"It's a bloody furbie," Martin bluntly. He was in one of the bio-labs staring into a glass container with an alien creature that had been brought back from another planet. He looked up at Corin and General Mercer, who stood not too far at the side.

"Doctor Yuri Solotov, I would like you to explain yourself," General Mercer said sternly, looking at the creature. A bald Russian scientist in his lab coat looked at the General defensively.

"We found this creature when our team was exploring PX8-HG9," Solotov explained with a heavy Russian accent. "I believe it may warrant study."

"It's a furbie!" Martin said, not seeing how the giant ball of fuzz could be of any value. Calling the creature a furbie was surprisingly accurate. With its ball-shaped body of brown fur and enormous bat-like ears, it looked like a brown furbie without its bird-like beak or feet. Its mouth opened and closed as if it was trying to mouth words as it stared curiously at the crowd with its large yellow eyes. It didn't seem to be the least bit afraid. It seemed curious.

"Doctor Solotov, I believe that the regulations involving alien life are very clear," Mercer said darkly, the creature in front of him chirping as it began to bob side to side as if it was listening to music.

Martin looked at the General in surprise. He was so used to seeing Mercer act so upbeat and friendly. It was almost new to him to see General Mercer sound so agitated. In fact, it was almost surprising to hear anyone Mercer's age sound even the slightest bit angry.

"General, please," Solotov protested. "If we constantly rely on rules and regulations then nothing would get done, especially in the scientific field. We achieve success by pushing these boundaries." Mercer maintained his stern glare.

"Professor Nevec, are you familiar with this?" Mercer asked, gesturing toward the animal, his oversized mustache twitching as he asked. Corin had his face up against the side of the container.

"It's a vormian," Corin said, stepping back. "It's…kind of a pest in this galaxy." Corin hesitated to go on, not wanting to make Doctor Solotov look bad. "There are only a few animals that are found on nearly every livable planet in this galaxy and this is one of them. These things are everywhere here. They are eaten by every carnivore and even the herbivores will go out of their way to kill a vormian. They multiply like…like…I don't know. They reproduce asexually and they just multiply."

"Space rats?" Martin suggested. Corin just shrugged.

"Sounds accurate. Like, sure they're a good eat, but they are such a pest."

"They're edible?" Martin asked when he heard this, having trouble imagining a giant fried fur ball on a plate.

"Yeah, and pretty good too," Corin remarked. Solotov's eyes widened with joy when he heard this.

"General, we have to study this," Yuri persisted. "A creature that can be eaten and can multiply exponentially. Imagine what we could do to world hunger with this." Solotov could imagine it right now, getting these creatures to earth and feeding starving people all over the world.

"Or introduce an invasive species into the ecosystem," Mercer pointed out. "Doctor, these regulations are in place for a reason and I do not see adequate reason to break them. I want that creature returned to the planet."

"General!" Solotov protested again. Mercer didn't answer; he just maintained his annoyed glare at the Doctor. "Fine," Solotov said, giving in to Mercer's demands. Mercer's expression lightens at this.

"Professor Nevec, Lieutenant Martin, I think you for your time," Mercer said graciously with a nod. He turned and folded his hands behind his back as he slowly made his way to the door.

Martin glanced at the creature again.

"It's still a furbie," he muttered, turning and walking away. The vormian watched as the crowd dispersed, its mouth still opening and closing.

STARGATE

MILLENNIUM

The Millennium conference room was full. The heads of every department of the Millennium Expedition were gathered in this one room. Nova slowly walked in, observing the crowd of people talking amongst each other. Nova spotted Colonel Umar easily amongst the crowd. His skin was almost unnaturally dark. His shiny bald head was the only bright spot against his pitch black skin.

"Major Nova," Umar greeted in a stern monotone but welcoming voice. "Good to see you again."

"Likewise," Nova said with a smile. She turned to look at the crowd in the conference room. "Still haven't gotten used to seeing all the heads in one room."

"May have to get used it," Umar said with the same monotone but friendly voice. "I heard General Mercer was making a panel of advisors using the heads of the departments."

"That's a lot of people," Nova remarked. "Hopefully we won't have to remember all their names." She looked around the room. The scientists were all sitting in chairs while doctors and other citizens stood around the room.

"I'm sure you're familiar with some of them," Umar said. "Doctor Chen is the head of the technical engineering department. You already ran a mission with Doctor Osborn, head of the medical department." Umar gestured toward Chen, who leaned against the rail of the balcony with his usual agitated expression, and Osborn, who was talking with the other nurses.

"What about us?" Nova asked. They were the two highest ranking military officers next to the expedition leader, General William Mercer.

"He'd probably only pick one military advisor," Umar said. "Wouldn't blame him if he picked you, ma'am." Nova scoffed at that comment.

"You're a higher ranking and better officer," she said earnestly. Umar gave a bow at that statement.

"Appreciate the compliment ma'am," he said. "But you were already going through the stargate while I was still fighting insurgents in my homeland of Nigeria. Mercer will want your experience. He'll probably assign me to head security."

Despite the volume of the chatter in the room, the gentle sound of the General's footsteps seemed to overpower the noise.

"If I may have your attention," General Mercer announced loudly. Immediately, everyone quieted down. It was as if Mercer's mere presence had shut everyone up. Everyone turned to face the General, listening attentively.

Nova never got used to how loud Mercer could speak with his age. Then again, most officers had to retire by his age. Nova could only wonder how many times his retirement was deferred.

Mercer maintained his usual pose with his hands behind his back as he slowly walked to the main chair was the end of the U-shaped table. He slowly sat down and folded his hands in front of him.

"We've been here for the earth equivalent of a month," Mercer said. "I want an update on our progress settling in." Mercer slowly looked around the room. "Doctor Chen, how are our power systems holding up?"

Chen took a step forward, straightening his back.

"Power systems remain stable," Chen said. "As long as we don't do anything stupid, we should be able to maintain our power supply for a while."

"Enough to maintain power for the central city," Mercer concluded. "How goes our exploration of the city?" Umar looked at Mercer.

"Taking a while, sir," Umar said. "Millennium's big. The central city alone is at least five times the size of Atlantis. We still have several dozen locked doors and at least a dozen towers to explore."

"Makes sense," an archaeologist in the crowd said. "Atlantis was a ship. If the Ancients can make ships that size, we can only imagine how big they can make their cities, especially with the resources of four races."

"Do you foresee us exploring the rest of the station?" Mercer asked. Umar shook his head.

"If I dedicate three years to it, maybe," he said. "The Millennium's arms are just too long to explore."

"And, if I have to power the arms too, our generators will run out of juice much faster," Chen added.

"We might have to," the archaeologist said. "All the factories are in the civilian sectors and those are in the arms. It's only a matter of time before we run out of food."

"And bullets," Nova added. "Our teams are encountering Ror'char on a little less than half the planets the teams are exploring. Ror'char armor is more resilient and it's eating our bullets."

"We will address these needs in time," Mercer said calmly. "Our resources are spread out the way it is. Doctor Osborn, what about our medical supplies?"

Young Doctor Kara Osborn took a step forward.

"Well, the main infirmary's been setup on the floor beneath stargate operations," she said cheerfully. "We've also set up several other infirmaries throughout the central city for easy access. Even with the medical supplies distributed between the infirmaries, we are doing pretty well."

"Excellent," Mercer said. "As the heads of your respective departments you will required to monitor the progress of everyone in your field. Major Nova, you will be head of the military branch of the Millennium."

Nova gave a firm nod to show that she understood what was being said.

"Colonel Umar," Mercer continued. "You will be my second in command. Should the need ever arise, you will take command of this station."

Umar looked at Mercer in surprise. He assumed only one of them could get a good leadership position. He was surprised that both of them found one.

"Yes sir," Umar said.

"You will all be required to file reports on all projects in your department. You will submit major reports and discoveries to me. I will turn to you for advice during certain situations. I am aware that many department heads are also part of the exploration teams. When you are away, your second will take charge and responsiblity. Understood?" Mercer slowly looked around the room, everyone giving nods of approval and agreement. "Good," Mercer concluded.

-.-

Solotov never really did get over having to take the vormian back to the planet. The giant fuzz ball watched as Solotov paced around the room.

"Science is about pushing the limit!" Solotov ranted to the other biologist in the room with him. "It's about questioning, about venturing into the unknown! How are we supposed to venture into the unknown when the whole expedition is controlled by a bunch of gun-toting jarheads?!"

"He is your boss," his fellow biologist said, organizing a cabinet full of equipment.

"He's military!" Solotov exclaimed. "What does he know about pushing the boundaries of science?!"

"Still," the biologist said. "You better get ready to take that thing back to the planet." Solotov grumbled in annoyance. He didn't have a choice but to do what Mercer told him. Doctor Solotov walked up to the container that held the creature. The rat-like creature stared at him with its round yellow eyes, bouncing back and forth. It was only then Solotov noticed two other pairs of yellow eyes staring at him. Behind the vorian he had captive were two smaller ones peeking at him.

"Maybe you're right," Solotov said with a smile. "I should take the creature we caught back to the planet."

-.-

The conference with General Mercer didn't last much longer. Once it was over, everyone was bustling to return to their duties.

Mercer had very little say once it was over. He just closed his eyes and smiled as people began to depart.

Chen was more than eager to leave. His feet were beginning to hurt from standing in one spot. As he made his way down the stairs, his radio crackled to life.

"Hey, Steve, you there?" Corin's voice asked through the radio.

"I'm here," Chen said.

"Hey, I need a little help with something. You spare a moment?"

Chen rolled his eyes.

"Can't help you if I don't know where you are," he pointed out.

"Right…" Corin said when he heard this. There was a pause as if Corin was trying to get his bearings. "It's the room that's right above the gate room."

"Got it," Chen said as he continued walking. He looked at the gate room ceiling, now knowing that Corin was right above it.

"Steven," Kara called out as Chen walked down the stairs at the front of the gate room. Steven Chen paused and turned around as Osborn quickly rushed to catch up to him.

"You going to try to justify you being here?" Chen groaned.

"Well, you're too much of a crank to listen," Kara said with a shrug as the two of them made their way down the steps and turned to go down the hall to their left.

"Excuse me?" Chen coughed as a pair of nurses walked by with tray of equipment.

"C'mon, Steven," Doctor Osborn groaned. "We've known each other since we were kids, ever since your family moved to America. I know how you're gonna react if I start explaining it to you."

"Things were different when we were kids," Chen grumbled. Kara's normally cheerful face softened at that statement.

"You were a lot happier back then," Kara said nostalgically. "I was hoping that I could bring that back."

"You're wasting your time," Chen said nonchalantly as they walked past the main infirmary. Kara waved hello to the doctors. She turned to go inside but stopped.

"I'm not giving up," she said with a stubborn chuckle. Chen's expression did not change. He did not say anything as he went up to a panel on the wall. The cover on it slid open, revealing an image of the station. Chen selected the central city. The image immediately zoomed in on the city and created another map from which Chen then picked the center region. Once zoomed in again, he could pick the transporter directly above the gate room. Steven reached for the screen but paused.

"Have you ever considered that the Steven Chen you knew was killed with his family?" Chen asked before he finally selected the location. A set of doors to the side of the screen opened and he stepped through.

The hall on the other side of the doorway were a polished silver, not much different from the stargate in the galaxy of Caldwell 70. Opals identical to the chevrons on their stargate lined the walls and lit up the place. Engineers and archaeologists walked back and forth, busy with their work.

Once Chen was through, the doors shut behind him. He looked around to get his bearings before heading off to the room Corin was talking about.

The walk wasn't long but the sight was something to behold.

"You got here fast," Corin remarked as Chen looked around the nine-walled room. Four of the silvery walls were completely covered in glowing alien letters. In the center of the room was what looked like the NGC galaxy's silver DHD with a milky white center button but it wasn't the same. It wasn't curved toward the user like a DHD. The buttons and the opal on top was pointed straight up toward the ceiling. Corin was at standing in front of the DHD-like machine reading a small booklet he had.

"Got the arks working," Chen said entered the chamber, awed by the glowing texts in the room.

"Arks?" Corin repeated.

"Yeah, looks like the Furlings were in charge of transportation around the place," Chen explained. "Pick a destination, walk through the doors, walk out. That simple. Beats Ancient transporters."

"You didn't feel like telling me this earlier?" Corin asked in annoyance. "Taking the stairs up here wasn't easy." Chen simply smiled in amusement.

"What is this place?" Chen asked, looking around the room. "Looks like Heliopolis."

"Heli-what?" Corin stuttered, closing his booklet.

"It was a place in my galaxy," Chen explained. "It was where the Alliance met. Four walls with their writing and a big thing in the center."

"With the universal language," Corin finished. "Yeah, I was reading it earlier. This is where they kept a copy of their treaty and a diary of their alliance." Corin paused as he thought about what Chen just told him. "Do you have pictures of his place?" Corin asked eagerly.

"We have pictures of the walls," Chen answered. "We don't have pictures of the center. What do you want me for anyways?" Corin gestured toward the pedestal.

"I was reading it," he said. "But, it suddenly stopped working."

"Have you tried hitting it?" Chen asked. Corin looked at him in surprise. He would've thought that Chen would be emphasizing how they had to be delicate with technology like this.

"Does that actually work?" Corin asked.

"No," Chen said with a shrug. "But it makes me feel better." Chen rolled up his sleeve as he walked up to the pedestal.

"No guarantee I can make this work," he announced. "The one in Heliopolis got shot and wasn't even scratched."

"Well, just give it a try," Corin said, eager to continue reading. Chen began scanning the DHD-like pedestal for any panels or openings.

"I know I'm going to regret asking this, but I'll ask anyways," Chen said. "What'd you find out from this treaty?"

"Not much," Corin said with a shrug. "After a couple thousand years, some of the stuff in there's become corrupted. The elements that represent letters and words are just blurs of color."

"And the stuff that wasn't corrupted?"

"Well, four races with different cultures and traditions coexisting isn't as easy as it sounds," Nevec explained. "And it wasn't a big happy alliance like everyone thinks. Every race apparently had some quality that made the others have problems about them."

"Like?"

"Well, the Nox are absolute pacifists," Corin continued. "Apparently this was giving the other three races headaches over constant insistence on taking the more peaceful solution. They wouldn't even take part in building the Millennium without the other races agreeing to not bring or add weapons."

Chen stopped when he heard this.

"You're kidding me!" he groaned, knowing that this meant they would be vulnerable to attack. He remembered when the Ror'char assaulted the Millennium the only reason the attack was stopped was because the Ror'char feared what weapons the Millennium possessed. If they found out that Millennium had none, there was no stopping any attack. "What about the other races? What were their problems?"

"According to the diary, the other races didn't like Asgard experiments, thought the Ancients were too controlling-"

"Wait a minute," Chen interrupted. "The sticklers with their no interference law were too controlling?"

"Might be why they made that rule," Corin said with a shrug. "As for the Furlings, the text was corrupted but there something about their species that disgusted the other three races."

"So not an alliance made in heaven," Chen concluded, taking a step back, frustrated that he couldn't find a way to open the pedestal.

"C'mon!" Chen yelled angrily, hitting the pedestal in frustration. The machine suddenly began to hum as the opal in the center began to glow. It shot up a beam of light and dozens of glowing orbs representing the atoms of the Universal Language appeared above it. Corin looked up in surprise.

"Hey, it does work," he remarked.

-.-

The stargate made its familiar warble once it was activated. Doctor Solovot looked at the vormian in its glass container one last time as his team prepared to take it back to the planet. The vormian still didn't look afraid. If anything, it looked like it found the whole trip to the Millennium fun. He bounced around on its unseen feet as he looked at the glittering wall of water that made up the event horizon of the stargate.

Solotov looked up at the balcony of the control room, where he saw General Mercer standing behind Donavan and the other technicians. Mercer maintained his pose with his hands folded behind his back. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion as Solotov disappeared through the gate with the creature.

Mercer looked at the laptop on the table, MALP telemetry being played on the screen. He watched Solotov step into the woods with the container.

"Releasing creature," Solotv announced, opening the glass container and letting the animal hop out. The vormian turned around and looked at Solotov with its playful eyes.

"We're shutting down the gate for you to dial back," Mercer said through the radio.

"Copy that," the leader of the team said through the radio. Mercer gave Donavan a nod and watched as the shimmering event horizon evaporated. Mercer stared at the stargate suspiciously.

-.-

Once back on the station, Solotv was eager to continue his work. He quietly walked into his lab, looking behind him to make sure no one was sneaking in. He pressed the opal at the side and the door hissed close. A twist of the opal and the gem turned red while the door locked. Yuri glanced at the door one last time before he quietly went to the closet at the back of the lab. The Alliance did a good job making sure their closet doors didn't creak when they opened. Solotov looked at the glass container on the top shelf where two vormians were bouncing around happily.

Solotov glanced at the door again as he slowly took the container off the shelf and set it on the table. The strip of sheet metal inside the glass container rattled as it was set down. One of the vormians waddled up to the strip of metal and picked it up in its mouth and began chewing it. The creature watched as Solotov went to his desk and grabbed a small audio recorder.

After a few chews, the vormian spat the piece of metal back out before continuing to bounce around the container happily.

"This is the audio diary of Doctor Yuri Solotov. I have returned the vormian back to its planet, as our trigger-happy bullet-brained jarhead of a general has ordered. Luckily for me, the creature has given birth to two offspring before I had to return it. I will have to also return these creatures to the planet but I intend on gathering some data before I do. Our new alien resident, Corin Nevec, told me that these creatures reproduce asexually. I wish to record a full life cycle but they appear to be able to reach full maturity in as little as an earth day so long as they are given enough food."

Solotov stopped his recording for a moment as he watched the vormians begin chewing on the piece of sheet metal.

"I have had some time to experiment with the pair before I returned its parent," Solotov continued recording. "Their saliva contains stunning sanitary properties. Like rats on earth, they seem to need to chew hard objects. I suspect the reasons for this are similar. However, they are capable of gnawing on a wide variety of objects including sheet metal."

Just as Solotov said this, one of the vormians let the now crumbled piece of metal out of its mouth. It bobbed up and down as it stared at Solotov.

"I wish to study their vormians' diet in more detail. They appear to consume nearly anything. This combined with it's the sanitary properties of its saliva, I wouldn't be surprised to see it gladly eat manure."

Solotov paused again as he watched the furbie-like creature waddle up to the side of the container.

-.-

Next day, the Millennium mess hall was full. People crowded the tables with trays of food. People on the balcony watched as their coworkers ate, quietly talking amongst themselves. A jukebox in the corner played a quiet but upbeat theme while people continued about their day.

Corin was humming to himself as he picked up a small pile of food from the counter that joined the eating area to the kitchen. It was a small meal in the eyes of others but normal for him; just a small lump of mash potatoes, beans, and an apple. Expedition members usually ate at random times but it wasn't uncommon to see teams eating together.

Corin spotted Martin, Chen, and Nova and walked over to the table they were at.

"Mind if I sit here?" Corin asked.

"It's not like we can stop you," Chen said bluntly. Corin just shrugged and sat down by Nova.

"We were just talking about the stargate program on earth," Nova explained as she ate her steak.

"Isn't it still classified?" Corin asked, using a fork to eat his mashed potatoes.

"Yes, it may have to stay like that forever," Chen said. Martin shook his head in disbelief when he heard this.

"Mr. Optimistic thinks that there's no way we can reveal the stargate program on earth," Martin explained.

"Mr. Realistic knows that there is no way we can tell the world about this without starting another world war," Chen snapped, referring to himself.

"C'mon!" Martin cried out. "We have a whole galaxy and you think the world isn't going to put aside its differences when it realizes how small we are?"

"It's possible," Corin said with a shrug. "There're plenty of worlds that destroyed themselves when they found out about the stargate." Chen looked at Martin as if Corin had just confirmed his statement.

"China was giving the United States problems about the stargate program," Chen added. "And, China is at least on ok terms with the US. I doubt the countries that truly despise the United States will simply agree to participate. We can't reveal this to the rest of earth without some higher power making sure we don't rip ourselves to shreds." Corin paused when he heard this, feeling his blood turn cold.

"That sounds like Ror'char rhetoric," he said under his breath. He stayed quiet for a moment. Luckily, no one seemed to hear his comment.

"The IOA is slowly expanding," Nova pointed out. "Spain and Australia are now both aware of the program and have agreed to keep quiet in exchange for technology."

"Yeah, and the island down under doesn't trust the US either," Chen grumbled. Martin opened his mouth to argue but couldn't find the words for it.

"He's right," Martin sighed, hating to admit defeat. "I was originally Royal Australian Air Force but they didn't think the US would actually disclose everything they found so a number of us were reassigned into the US Air Force to make sure things weren't being kept from them."

Corin could not help but chuckle.

"Another galaxy and you're still arguing about the politics of your planet," he laughed.

"Hey, he's doing the arguing," Martin said defensively, pointing at Chen.

"Gentlemen," Nova called out, breaking up the two before they could being arguing.

"No really," Corin said cheerfully. "I thought you guys would be busy trying to think of a name for our team."

"I'm letting them decide," Nova said nonchalantly, gesturing toward Martin and Chen, a statement that earned her the agitated glare of both of them.

-.-

Kara Osborn cheerfully walked down the hall with a stack of papers in her hand. She just found out that she wasn't just the head of the medical department but the biology departments as well. This meant twice the work but she already worked faster than the other heads so this evened things out.

She flipped through the stack of reports as she made her way to collect the next one.

"Doctor Solotov?" she called as she pounded on the lab door. No response. "Doctor?" She paused to see if Solotov would respond. She knew he was upset over not being able to study the alien creature so he might not have a report for her but she still had to check.

No response.

Osborn turned to leave when she heard a loud crash in the lab. It sounded like a glass jar had fallen. She could hear the distinctive noise of glass shards being sent flying across the floor. Without a word, she pressed the opal the side and opened the polished glass door.

Solotov was away and the lab was dark but she could still make out the silhouette of the table and the equipment on it. Still, she did not see anything that had fallen nor shattered.

She reached over and turned on the light. Still, there was nothing that looked like it had fallen. She stared into the room suspiciously. She slowly walked to the back of the room; toward the closet. She could see the glittering shards of glass on the floor. Whatever made that noise was in the closet. Even as she approached the door, she could hear quiet chirping and squeaking.

"Doctor Osborn!" a voice called out in surprise. Osborn turned around and saw a surprised Yuri Solotov standing in the doorway.

"W-What are you doing here?" Solotov asked nervously, eyes glancing at the closet. Kara looked at Solotov suspiciously. He has never been nervous around authority before; why is he now?

"I was going to see if you have any project reports," Kara said. "But, I heard something crash in the lab."

Solotov felt the blood drain from his face when he heard this. It seemed strange for someone to be afraid of someone so short, since Kara Osborn only came up to Solotov's chest, but he knew that Osborn, as head of two departments, could tell Mercer to transfer him to garbage disposal as punishment or worse if either of them decided.

But it wasn't fear of punishment that made him nervous; it was fear of disappointment. Everyone in both the medical and biology department knew about Kara Osborn. Just as Samantha Carter was a legend as a scientist and a soldier, Kara Osborn was a legend as a doctor and biologist.

He hadn't had the chance to really study the vormian. He thought he could find something truly wonderful about the animal that would make up for his disobedience. He hadn't found anything yet and it would just look bad if he was caught.

"Yeah, I haven't really had a chance to get started on a project," Solotov said with a nervous laugh as Osborn turned to open the closet door.

She waved her hand in front of the opal at the side and the door slid open. Solotov held his breath in worry as Kara scanned the inside of the closet. There was nothing. She looked at the broken glass container at the base, shards of glass scattered across the floor. Aside from that, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She suspected Solotov was up to something but couldn't make an accusation without some shred of evidence.

"You should get this cleaned up," she said, examining the rest of the closet.

"I'll get right to it," Solotov said with a nod. Osborn gave Solotov a friendly smile as she left his lab. Solotov kept his innocent composure right until the doors closed behind him. Then, he panicked. Yuri rushed to the closet and began rummaging through it, desperately trying to find the vormians that were in the now broken container. He pulled away boxes of equipment and threw supplies across the room. If he wasn't already going to be in trouble for keeping a pair of baby vormians, he would be utterly screwed for letting them escape.

Solotov pulled away another stack of containers and froze in horror. Behind the box he had just moved was a ventilation shaft. The metal screen that covered the shaft was chewed open.

"Oh no," he whimpered when he realized the creatures were now loose in the Millennium.


	2. Chapter 2

**Once again, please review and let me know what you think. I kinda wished stargate did more episodes involving alien animals. **

-.-

Days passed and life on the Millennium continued as usual. Scientists continued doing their research while teams continued going off on missions through the stargate. Nearly a month had passed since the expedition had first arrived on Millennium and everything was settling into place.

"Incoming wormhole," Donavan announced loudly as the stargate activated. He instinctively pressed a button on the controls and watched as an Asgard transport beam materialized a massive metal slab across the event horizon. On duty soldiers rushed into the gate room, weapons raised. General Mercer, responding to the stargate's activation, quickly walked into the control room with his usual formal posture with his hands folded behind his back.

"IDC?" Mercer asked. Donavan kept his eyes on the computer screen.

"Not yet," he said. "Wait, we're getting Major Nova's IDC."

"Raise the barrier," Mercer ordered. Donavan nodded and pressed the button. The line at the bottom of the stargate began to glow as the Asgard transport beam activated and the metal slab covering the stargate vanished in its beam of light. The defense team readied their weapons in case the thing that came through wasn't Nova's team. They didn't have to wait long to find out though.

Corin suddenly came stumbling through the stargate, looking back in panic. Martin and Chen quickly followed, flailing their arms. Mercer could tell something was wrong, his face turning into a stern stone-cold stare. The fact that they weren't bothering to aim behind them meant that whatever was chasing them couldn't be fought.

Nova burst through yelling in panic.

"LOCK IT UP!" she yelled.

"Seal the barrier!" Mercer ordered. Donavan immediately hit the button and the barrier reformed over the gate just in time. No sooner had the metal slab completely covered the massive ring, the rhythmic beating of objects pounding on the barrier began to echo through the room.

Mercer calmly made his way down the stairs.

"Major?" he asked, wanting to know what was going on as the pounding continued like a drumroll.

Chen and Martin both glanced back at the sealed stargate as Nova brushed herself off.

"We were observing a herd of bison-creatures in a field," Nova explained as she brushed off some of the grass and leaves on her shoulder. "A pack of local predators attacked and sent them into a stampede. We had to gate back or get run over."

"You can thank Crocodile Dundee for that one," Chen said bitterly, referring to Martin.

"How is it my fault?!" Martin snapped. Mercer calmly held up his hand to tell them to quiet down.

"Get changed," he said with a smile, amused by Martin and Chen's bickering. "We'll debrief this afternoon." Nova gave a nod and signaled her team to head toward the locker rooms.

Corin wiped away the sweat on his forehead as he followed the team out.

"You seem a bit nervous, mate," Martin remarked to Corin as they waved bye to Nova as she headed for the women's locker room.

Corin gave a slight chuckle as they entered the maze of lockers.

"Still not used to the whole life and death thing," he said with a shiver, still thinking about how they nearly got trampled. They quickly found their lockers and began to take off their gear. The hall began to echo with the sound of clips and Velcro as they took off their packs.

"Hey, what's with the rumors of you screaming in the middle of the night, Charles?" Chen asked with a smile. Corin looked at Martin curiously.

"It was not a scream," Martin said, rolling his eyes. "It was a yell of frustration. I got lost." Chen had to hold back his laugh.

"Again," he said with a grin. Even Corin had to hold back a laugh.

"Oi, it isn't easy traveling between these arks and trams and stuff," Martin said defensively.

"You can't blame him," Corin said as he began to empty the pouches. "The main tower is the only building with arks on every floor. Probably so that the most important people in the city can access the tower at a moment's notice. This was meant to be the capital city of the newly formed Alliance of Four Great Races."

Chen just grumbled as he began to explain the system.

"Central City is divided into different sections," he grumbled. "Use the arks to go to the section you want, then use the trams to help you get around."

"You'd think blokes as advanced as the Alliance could make a simpler transportation system," Martin grumbled.

"If you think about it, this one makes sense," Corin said. "If the station only used arks, the lines would be huge. And if it only used trams, the ride time would take forever." Martin just groaned again.

"To make one thing clear," Martin said as he took off the last pouches of equipment. "I don't bloody scream." He turned to his locker to grab his off-duty clothing. Suddenly, he let out a startled scream and fell onto his back in surprise when a giant fur ball suddenly leapt out of his locker and into his face.

Martin, dazed and confused, looked up.

"What da bloody?" Martin stuttered looked up, merely to see a pair of massive yellow eyes staring at him. A vormian had jumped out the locker and onto Martin, like a rat jumping off the top shelf and into someone's face.

"Hey, isn't that?" Corin asked, almost instantly recognizing the creature.

"What is that?" Chen asked, not being in the lab when Solotov was showing off his capture. The vormian chirped curiously when it noticed it was being watched by a crowd.

"Grab it before it gets away!" Corin yelled, knowing what would happen if a vormian ran loose on the station.

Martin instantly reacted and tried grabbing the creature off his chest but the giant rat took off, moving faster than it seemed possible for a creature with stumpy legs. Chen ran after the creature, stooped low so he could pick it right off the ground. But, running stooped over was not easy and Chen suddenly tripped, falling flat on his face. Corin knew he had to catch the vormian. He ran after the alien rat, glad that the doors to the locker room were closed so the creature was at least contained.

And he jinxed it.

Corin stooped over to grab the vormian off the floor but ran head-first into the white opal control panel on the side of the door. He would swear he saw a flash of white light when he hit the door frame and he fell to the ground. There was a beep as the door slid open.

Corin fell over as the vormian waddled out of his reach and out into the hall. Corin's eyes widened in worry when he saw the vormian waddle into the hall. It turned around and looked at Corin playfully, almost teasing him about escaping. Corin stared worriedly, dreading the vormian turning and running off.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a boot flew down the hall and hit the vormian with a loud thump, sending the creature tumbling across the floor with a surprised squeal. Nova calmly stepped out and picked up the dazed vormian off the floor.

"Missing something?" she asked, looking at her team, who were sprawled all over the ground, almost disappointed they were bested by a space rat.

-.-

Everyone was so used to seeing Mercer bright and happy, usually a smile on his calm face. Seeing him agitated was only occasional and seeing him this angry was a fairly intimidating sight to behold. His eyes were narrowed in a menacing glare, staring at Solotov from his desk. Nova and her team, along with Doctor Osborn, were all in Mercer's office, waiting to see how Mercer will react.

"Perhaps you'd like to explain yourself," Mercer said darkly. "I believe I told you to return the creature, did I not?"

"I did," Solotov said innocently. Mercer maintained his stone-cold glare. "But," Solotov continued, caving in. "The vormian I captured…gave birth."

Solotov would swear he heard Mercer growl.

"You said to return the creature," Solotov squeaked nervously. "You didn't say anything about the babies."

"Doctor," Mercer cut in, not in the mood for stupid excuses. "The regulations involving animal life are in place for a reason and you have chosen to disregard them…TWICE. Upon that, you failed to report the escape the moment it happened." Solotov simply hung his head.

"How many are there?" Nova asked in a friendlier tone than Mercer's. Solotov looked up, partially glad that someone wasn't giving him a death glare.

"Two," Solotov said. "It only had two offspring." Nova shrugged to Mercer as if to tell him he can calm down. Two offspring and one was already caught.

"General," Solotov suddenly spoke up. "I don't understand why the concern. It's harmless; it's not some man-eating monster or anything."

"Animals don't need to be carnivorous to present a dangerous," Osborn said. "From what I've been told, the vormian shares characteristics with rodents on Earth, which are often hosts to parasites and bacteria."

Martin shivered at the thought of alien parasites suddenly overrunning Millennium, sneaking through the hallways at night, crawling into their beds when they're asleep.

"You're gonna give me bloody nightmares," he commented. "Everything in this galaxy is already bigger; hate to see what alien parasites look like."

"And, everything in this galaxy tries to kill us," Chen added. Corin just smiled at this comment.

"If it makes you feel better, it's not just you," he said with a shrug. "Everything in this galaxy tries to kill everybody." Chen gave his alien friend and agitated look.

"Yes, this new information is so comforting," Steven coughed sarcastically. Mercer did not react to the team's banter. He was more focused on Solotov.

"I will alert all personnel to be on the lookout for the last creature," Mercer said. "The question remains, what should I do with you, Doctor Solotov?" Solotov looked at Mercer worriedly.

It was strange for Yuri. He didn't care about ranking, military officials didn't scare him, and it wasn't like he could be fired. Still, there was something about Mercer that was disconcerting. No one wants to see their boss angry. Standing in front of an angry military official awaiting punishment often felt like standing before the judge of the afterlife deciding on whether or not to send the person to hell. But Mercer was different. Standing before the angry General Mercer felt more like standing in front of the devil himself deciding on which ring of hell to send the person to.

It was strange for everyone. Being so far from Earth, aging General Mercer had become a grandfather figure for many on the station. They were so used to seeing him welcome and greet everyone warmly, laugh heartily over some silly joke, tell stories about his life, or console people over the difficulty of being stuck in another galaxy. Seeing Mercer even the least bit angry was a rarity.

"What do you mean, General?" Solotov asked. Mercer leaned forward and folded his hands in front of him.

"Had this been the SGC on earth, you employment would be promptly terminated," the General explained. "However, we are a colony in the middle of another galaxy. Relieving you of your duties would simply create dead weight for this expedition. Therefore, we must find another suitable punishment."

"Like?" Solotov asked, feeling confident. He knew Mercer was right about not being able to just fire him.

"I've asked department heads for suggestions," Mercer said. "Many have said that I should have you shot."

Those words echoed through Solotov's head. Military or not, people were not just executed as punishment.

"But, you wouldn't do that," he said, trying harder to convince himself than convince Mercer. The General simply stared at Solotov, who turned pale when it seemed like Mercer was serious.

"The punishment doesn't fit the crime!" Solotov argued.

"Accidents happen, Doctor," Mercer stated. Yuri Solotov stiffened.

"You can't just do that; there're witnesses," he said. Mercer simply gave everyone else in the room a look.

"I should head back to the med-lab," Kara said awkwardly as she headed out the door.

"I still need to start on my mission report," Nova said as she left.

"I still need to work on the trams," Chen stated with a smile, turning to leave.

"I still need to study the Furling language," Corin said with a nervous chuckle, backing out of the room.

"And I…" Martin started but couldn't think of what to say. "I…I need to pee."

Solotov felt his jaw drop as everyone just cleared out of the room, leaving just him and Mercer. Solotov gave a nervous smile, just waiting for what happens next.

"All joking aside, Doctor," Mercer said sternly. "You have disregarded regulation. I am temporarily taking you off the Mud Skippers."

"General!" Solotov protested, not wanting to be taken off the team. Mercer narrowed his eyes in agitation at Doctor Solotov's protests.

"The other option is to have you shot," Mercer stated, which immediately shut Solotov up.

"Yes, General," Solotov muttered.

"Dismissed," Mercer said.

-.-

As if Osborn didn't have her hands full already, now she had to deal with Solotov. She was the head of the biology department and that meant she was responsible for Yuri Solotov.

"What were you thinking?" Osborn asked as she and Solotov made their way down the halls past several science labs. Other scientists walked past them with their clipboards and petri dishes.

"I mean no disrespect, Doctor Osborn," Solotov said. "But, I don't see how you can just sit back and let the jar heads run the station." A couple of nearby guards who overheard Solotov's comments angrily glared at him as he passed by.

"I'll admit, military protocol can be a bit strict," Osborn confessed. "But, it's all in place for a reason. I've seen enough go wrong at Area 51 to understand why it's like that."

"You cannot convince me you've never broken protocol for a major find," Solotov scoffed.

"No, I have," Osborn admitted, thinking about all the times she broke the rules. "But, the finds were massive. No offense, but this isn't that big of a find."

Solotov hung his head, disappointed Osborn didn't approve of his actions. He was hoping a fellow biologist would understand.

-.-

The mess hall in the main tower was pretty full so Nova found herself eating in one of the Millennium's Central City's many dining halls. She imagined they were simple restaurants when the Alliance was still living here. Now, they were just more places to eat.

People in the expedition were so eager to examine the technology left behind that they didn't even stop to wonder about civilian life. Not everyone was a scientist or soldier. There still had to be a chef, office worker, mechanic, or plumber. Nova always wondered what civilian life was like for the Alliance. She also wondered what would be done with the civilian sections. They didn't need Alliance convenience stores or supermarkets.

Dozens of people were eating here. Some were probably here because the mess hall was full. Others were simply here because it was closer to where they live or worked and found it more convenient to eat here.

A small stack of papers lay beside her as she continued scribbling to fill out the empty document in front of her. Her half eaten lunch was by her right elbow so she could take a bite any time she wants.

"Ma'am," a voice said. Nova looked up from her work in surprise. "I hope this seat isn't taken."

"Colonel Umar," she greeted warmly. "No, go ahead." Umar gave a warm smile and took a seat across from her. She was about to continue writing when the table seemed to jump as a whole stack of papers was set down on it. Nova looked up and nearly felt her jaw drop when she saw a stack of papers twice the size of hers.

"Procrastinated on paperwork?" she asked. Colonel Umar have a humorous chuckle.

"Ironic that everybody wants to be in charge but they are never ready for the work that comes with it," Umar said. "Second in command means second most paper work."

"You're making me feel lazy, Colonel," Nova said with a smile, looking at her pile and feeling that it looked small.

"Apologies, ma'am," Umar replied in the same monotone voice as he picked up a pencil. He had just begun to write when yelling suddenly filled the room. Nova and Umar both turned to look at the kitchen. Whatever was going on had all the cooks riled. Suddenly, the kitchen door burst open. A line of cooks and chefs stumbled out the door like dominos. It wasn't the chefs that caught Nova's attention but what they were chasing. Scampering across the floor, like a furbie on wheels, was a vormian.

Nova instinctively looked at her food, knowing that an alien rat was in the same kitchen that prepared it.

"Isn't that?" Umar asked when he saw the animal. Nova didn't say anything as he began to unlace her boots.

People yelled in shock as they jumped on tables to get out of the way of the rodent.

The vormian looked at the crowd, squealing as if it was laughing. It looked at the civilians running from it. The last thing it saw before it blacked out was Terra Nova's boot flying at its face.

-.-

The tram stations on the Millennium weren't that different from the subway stations on Earth, with a few exceptions. Several flights of Smooth white stairs led to the lower levels under central city. Smooth glowing stones tiled the floor. Crystal screens lined the walls like giant TV's. Chen imagined that these screens probably held advertisements when the Alliance actually lived in the station. Benches sat at nearly every corner of the tram platform.

It also felt…lonely. The station was obviously meant to help ferry several hundred people. Now, with an almost endless amount of space, it felt empty.

At the edge of the platform was a band of orange energy with dozens of glowing orbs floating across it like leaves down a river. Chen knew it was just a hologram and the orbs were just part of the Alliance's Universal Language. He didn't know what it said, didn't care either, but guessed it would tell passengers to keep their distance from the edge of the platform.

"Donavan, the tram isn't here," Chen said through his radio, looking down the pitch black tunnel.

"Don't be so impatient, it'll get there," Donavan replied from the control room. Chen didn't need to wait very long. A few moments later, a long chain of marble white cars flew down the tracks. Chen felt the wind of the rushing train as it silently sped into the station. There no noise except a gentle hiss, like air leaking out of a tire, as the tram cars slowed to a stop.

"Alright, it's here," Chen said as the orange band of energy disappeared and dozens of glossy blue doors all across the train slid open. He calmly stepped aboard and began fumbling to get his scanner out of his vest pocket. He looked at the Gameboy-looking device in his hand, taking readings of the machines around him.

"Get to the front of the tram," Donavan said. "Sensors say there's some sort of problem with its computer systems."

The blue doors soon slid close and the train took off with a small pop. Chen never said it aloud but he has always been fascinated with Alliance technology. Thanks to the inertial dampeners, he didn't even feel the train car take off.

Chen almost missed the rattling subways back on Earth. After spending thousands of years to develop advanced technology, the Alliance's trams were completely silent. If it wasn't for the windows inside the car it would have been near impossible to realize the tram was moving.

Chen walked down the isle of seats at the front of the tram, looking at his scanner.

"Ok, what's your problem then?" Chen wondered out loud as he continued walking through the tram car. The controls lay untouched at the front. Once he reached the controls, Chen knelt down and began fumbling with the panel at the base of the control console. It came off with a quiet pop.

"What's the problem with this tram?" Chen muttered as he set the panel aside and peered into the control console. His eyes suddenly widened in shock.

He knew the Alliance used a lot of crystal technology so he was not surprised to see a set of glowing crystals inside the control console. Chen's eyes fell on the vormian sitting on the rack of crystals, chewing on some of them.

"Guess that answers my question," Steven groaned. He had been hoping that someone else would find the second vormian. Well, he found it, he had to catch it.

The rodent squeaked curiously when it saw Chen as it continued to gnaw the control crystals. Steven pocketed his scanner and got ready to grab the creature.

"Hello," Chen said quietly, slowly inching his hands forward. "What I need you to do now is come here." The vormian eyed the pair of hands coming ever closer to it.

"Don't worry," Chen whispered, getting ready to grab the vormian. "I'm not going to hurt you." Chen was just about to grab the vormian when it suddenly leapt at him. He gave a yell in surprise as the giant fur ball collided with his face. The extraterrestrial rat fell to the ground and took off through the tram car.

"I Changed My Mind!" Chen yelled scrambling after the animal. "I AM Going To Hurt You!"

-.-

A few hours later, the doors to Solotov's lab slid open as Chen stormed in with the vormian in his hand.

"I got it!" Chen said gruffly as he entered the room, and stopped in his tracks. He expected a single cage that would hold the vormian they saw earlier. Instead, the cage that laid on the counter was filled with vormians.

"What is going on?!" Chen yelled over the squealing and squeaking of the alien creatures, shock and horror spread over his face. Martin's head suddenly appeared from behind the cage.

"Welcome to the furriest hell in existence," Martin greeted, gesturing toward the animals. Chen gawked at all the creatures in front of him.

"I thought there was only ONE left!" Chen yelled. He stared at the cage in disbelief as Corin Nevec also emerged from behind it.

"Can we talk outside or something?" Nevec asked over the squabbling squeals of the vormians around him. Martin nodded in agreement and the three of them quickly walked out the door.

Once the door closed behind them, the squeaking and squealing quickly vanished.

"What just happened?" Chen coughed, stunned by what he just saw.

"Babies," Martin stated. Chen groaned in disbelief. "My quarters are beginning to smell. I think there're dead ones in the vents."

"I told you to be careful with these things," Corin said, putting his hand to his forehead in annoyance. "Where's Mercer?" Chen just shrugged. He was busy making repairs; he didn't have time to keep track of where the General was.

"Probably chewing out Solotov for this," Martin suggested. Just as he said that, the intercom suddenly announced, "Professor Nevec, please report to the conference room.

Corin exchanged curious glances with Chen and Martin before walking off.

-.-

Corin quickly made his way to the conference room; General Mercer never calls anyone unless it was urgent. News of the vormians loose on the station was already spreading. He overheard several people talking about it as he passed by them. More people were complaining about putrid odors coming from the walls. Corin guessed that the vormians must have died in the vent shafts and the stink was seeping into the hallway.

As he approached the conference room, Corin could hear Mercer discussing the situation with Osborn, Solotov, and Nova.

"In other words, we may have an infestation on our hands," Mercer said darkly.

"Possibly," Osborn explained. "One of the benefits of a city in space is the lack of potential pests. But, without any animals of any sort on the station, the vormian has no natural predators to limit its population." Everyone in the room looked at Solotov in agitation; they wouldn't' be in this situation if it wasn't for him.

"There was no way for me know that these creatures could do this!" Solotov argued defensively.

"Which is exactly why protocols are in place," Mercer said. "To prevent things like this from happening." Mercer looked up when he noticed Corin coming up the steps to the conference room.

"Professor Nevec," Mercer greeted. "Glad you could join us; we might need your knowledge on these creatures."

"Knowledge?" Corin repeated, worried they would suddenly turn to him for information on every animal they find. "General, no offense, but I'm not an expert. I only know a little bit about vormians."

"Which is more than we know," Mercer reminded. "I want these animals off my station. Do you have any ideas?" Corin paused, stunned that everyone was now turning to him for answers. His knowledge of the animals in the galaxy was almost embarrassingly basic.

"Well," Corin stuttered. "These things are killed by every animals out there. We could bring one back and let it hunt the vormian."

"You're suggesting we find something to kill the vormians?" Solotov exclaimed. "That's –that's like murder! There's got to be another way."

"There might be, Doctor," Mercer said calmly. "However, this is the largest expeditionary force the SGC has sent through the stargate and I won't have it endangered by these alien rats. Must I also remind you, Doctor, that if you hadn't broken protocol we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with?"

"It wouldn't work anyways," Kara Osborn suddenly said. "We'd be replicating the predator-prey relation but the hunting ground would favor the vormians. There're are also other problems with the infestation that I'm worried about."

"What other aspects are there?" Mercer asked.

"Well, rats on Earth gnaw on hard objects like wood. During a rat infestation, their gnawing can seriously weaken the structural integrity of an apartment building. Not to mention, mess with the electricity and put holes in their water pipes. Vormians can gnaw sheet metal. I don't care how advanced the Alliance is; these creatures can do some serious damage if we don't get them under control."

"We've only been able to uncover a small fraction of the things this station holds," Nova added. "It'd be a shame if things were suddenly damaged because of the vormians."

"It's already happened," Mercer pointed out. "Donavan pulled a dead vormian out of the galaxy map in the control room." Everybody looked up in shock when they heard this.

"The galaxy map?" Corin repeated. "That map has ALL the stargate addresses in this galaxy! If we lose those addresses, we're stuck." Everyone knew what Corin was talking about. The stargate may go to thousands of worlds but there were over a billion possible address permutations. If they lost the map, they would spend days dialing random addresses in the hope of getting a lock by pure chance.

"The technicians have already fixed the map," Mercer explained. "We still have the gate addresses of all the stargate's in this galaxy. However, their accompanying descriptions have been corrupted beyond repair."

They didn't get a chance to continue talking. Everyone in the room turned when they heard Colonel Umar running up the steps.

"General!" Umar called out. "Sir, we have a problem." Mercer folded his hands behind his back.

"Yes, Colonel?" Mercer asked.

"The creatures, they've begun eating our food supplies," Umar quickly explained. "Several of our stores have been completely emptied."

"How much of our food supply?" Nova asked, a tingle of fear traveling down her spine.

"We don't know but it looks like a little over half," Umar said.

"Half!" Nova repeated. The expedition knew that it would have to address the possibility of running out of food eventually. But now, the threat of foot shortage was right on top of them.

"Doctor Osborn, Doctor Solotov, I want you two to work on a way of getting rid of these creatures," Mercer ordered. "Professor Nevec, help them with it."

"Me?!" Nevec exclaimed. "How?!"

"You figure that out, Professor," Mercer said. "Colonel Umar, Major Nova, I want you two to organize our military forces and guard the remaining food stores. You're all dismissed." Mercer quickly walked back into his office and out of sight without another word.

"He's mad, isn't he?" Solotov whispered. Osborn was just about to turn when an almost abnormally tall German man ran up he steps, his white coat flapping behind him.

"Kaufmann, what is it?" Osborn asked worriedly when she saw Ralf Kaufmann's anxious look.

"Doctor Osborn," Kaufmann said with a heavy German accent, pushing up his large round glasses. "We have a situation in the infirmary."

"Now what?" Nova groaned. It seemed like it was one problem after another after another. Osborn and Kaufmann immediately turned and rushed down the stairs to the infirmary with Solotov right behind them.

"I'm going to get men to guard our food storage," Umar said as he rushed for the ark at the back of the conference room. He punched in a location on the pad and the doors slid opened.

"Find out what's happening," Umar called out before running through the doors and out of sight. Nova was about to join Osborn and Kaufmann in the infirmary when she noticed that Corin was still at the top of the steps.

Corin just stared, still trying to take in what was happening. Most of all, he felt completely useless.

"C'mon," Nova said. Corin looked at her, still doubting whether or not he could actually be of any help. Finally, he began walking down the steps to join his colleagues.

-.-

Even before she reached the infirmary, Kara could hear the coughs of the patients inside.

"Breda arrived first complaining of nausea," Kaufmann explained as they walked into the room. "Soon, _vier_ others arrived complaining of similar symptoms." Kara paused as she looked around. Three people were laying down on hospital beds while two others were talking to nurses about their condition.

"One patient has a number of rashes," Kaufmann added as Solotov appeared in the doorway. "Another says that she's been eating almost nonstop for _drei_ days and has been losing weight."

Osborn could not help but feel a chill. Their string of victories at the SGC has made them almost arrogant to what the universe could throw at them. They had beaten the Goa'uld and the Ori, nearly defeated the Wraith, and felt that they could take on any situation the universe could throw at them. Now, their expedition and colony was being slowly picked apart by alien rats.

"This is what I was afraid of," she said, quickly walking up to one of the patients.

"What is it?" Nova asked as she walked in with Corin right behind her.

"If the vormians are as similar to rats as Corin suggests, then it is highly possible that they have brought along a number of parasites and bacteria," Osborn said grimly. "Normally, short term encounters or limited numbers wouldn't produce enough bacteria that our immune systems couldn't handle. But, now we are exposed to dozens of vormians for long periods of time." Kara looked at Kaufmann.

"Which one's been losing weight?" she asked.

"Halverson," Kauffmann answered.

"Alright, check her for parasites; run a complete stool test. Something might be leeching all the nutrients of the food she eats. Doctor Kaufmann, you're gonna have to take care of everything here."

"What about you?" Kaufmann asked when he heard this.

"Mercer's ordered me to find a way to stop the vormians," she told her second. "I need to take care of everything here."

"Right," Kaufmann said with a thumbs-up. He straightened his glasses and turned to the other nurses. "I want a complete blood work analysis and a stool test done for Halverson as quickly as possible."

"How did this happen?" Corin gawked. "Doesn't protocol dictate we get a team to sanitize what we bring through the stargate?"

At that question, everyone immediately turned to face Solotov, who turned pale at the question.

"I couldn't risk it!" he said defensively. "I was told to immediately return the first one so it wasn't necessary and if I got a sanitation team for the babies Mercer would know that I kept them."

Corin half wished Chen was here to hear this. Everyone else around him was just groaning in disbelief. Corin would imagine Chen would ask Major Nova permission to shoot Solotov, or at least badly hurt him.

"I need to get back to Colonel Umar and help him guard our food supplies," Nova said, wanting to put as much distance between her and Solotov before she decides to hurt him.

"Major, you should get someone to test the food," Kara suggested. "Even if the vormians haven't eaten, their close proximity might have contaminated them." Nova gave a nod before jogging away. Kara then turned her attention to Nevec and Solotov.

"We've used the fierri trazers to capture a few vormians," she explained. "It isn't much, but maybe we can find a way to stop these things."


	3. Chapter 3

**Final chapter. Once again, please review and tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome. On a further note, I have started a forum about this series on gateworld. If you don't have a fanfic account you can tell me your opinions there. threads/89185-Stargate-Millennium Anyways, please enjoy.**

Chen didn't know how deep 'beneath' Central City he was. He could only guess several hundred feet. He was below the carpet of towers and sky scrapers, below the basement and cellars, even below the tram system. Down here, it was nothing a maze of what looked like polished obsidian halls, lit up only by columns filled with a glowing liquid. Only the most basic and essential city systems ran down here. Pipes filled with water flowed through the walls and a complex system of circuits ran through the ceiling.

"You didn't have to come with me," Chen said to Martin as they made their way through the tunnels.

"The Major's directing our military forces, Corin's busy helping the Doc with this rat problem, and you're fixing stuff all over the city," Martin listed. "I feel bloody useless."

"Useless or bored?" Chen asked. Martin just shrugged at this, quietly admitting to himself it was a combination of both.

"Maybe you can explore this place if you're bored," Chen suggested. "We've only mapped out about fifteen percent of Central City and I am NOT getting lost in these tunnels.

"Too bad you can't put trackers or cameras on these furbies and have them explore the place," Martin shrugged, thinking about how easy it would be if something else could do all the mapping and exploring for them.

"Here we are," Chen announced as they entered an octagonal chamber with a large control console at the center.

"At least the furbies didn't chew up the environmental controls too much," Martin commented when he saw the untouched console. Chen silently pulled off a panel on the side of the controls and peered inside.

"You were saying?" he asked when he saw two vormians inside the control console, gnawing on several crystals. Noticing that they were not being watched, the creatures immediately leapt out and took off down the hall at speeds that seemed impossible for their size. "This explains why I couldn't control the station's environment from the control room; the power conduits have been through."

"What now, then?" Martin asked.

"Well, until these conduits are repaired we're going to need to stay here to be able to control the station's environmental systems. I also need to fix this thing before the whole station's environment goes out of whack. If I ever see Solotov I'm going to beat the crap out of him."

"Easy there, mate; violence isn't the answer," Martin teased. Chen scoffed at that statement.

"I prefer my own method," Chen said. "If you can solve it with science then the best way to handle it is with a little violence."

-.-

Kara scrolled down a bulleted list of everything they knew about the vormians while Corin and Solotov both sat in nearby swivel chairs fast asleep. Kara took another sip of her coffee as she pulled up the scans of a vormian.

"Doctor Kaufmann," she said through her radio. "How's it going in the infirmary?" She waited a moment before Kaufmann's reply came through.

"We have a number of patients now," the German doctor answered. "We have bene treating them as fast as we can but if the source isn't removed, we're going to be overwhelmed." Kara took a moment to think about that. The problem stems from the vormians. So, they still needed to find a way to clear all the rats off the station. If they miss even one, the whole problem will start over again.

Kara put her head on the table.

"What I wouldn't give for coffee right now," she groaned.

"Tired?"

Kara looked up in surprise when she heard this question. Corin had woken up and was staring at her.

"You have no idea," she said dully. "There's just nothing that seems to work on them. If even one vormian is loose, this will just start all over again. It's impossible to poison every single vormian; it'd the same as trying to poison every last rat in a city. The amount of poison would be dangerous to humans so we'd have to evacuate the entire station."

"And we don't exactly have an off world base to go to," Corin added.

"Even if we did," Kara said. "Evacuating now, after we've spent nearly a month setting up, is like trying to evacuate a city. There's no hormone or pheromone to attract them with either."

"Didn't the techs get the life signs detectors in the control room up and running?" Corin asked. "Can't we just use it to find all the vorians?" Kara shook her head.

"Their habitats are usually in dark narrow spaces," she said. "They'll run away at the sight of us. We could get to them eventually, but they will simply give birth again before we can." She put her head back down on the table. "I need some sleep." At that statement, Corin's eyes suddenly widened.

"Sleep," he said. "What if we put all the vormians to sleep?!"

"What?" she asked, looking up.

"It's a space station," Corin said excitedly. "Couldn't we alter the environment? Make it colder, have all the vormians go into hibernation? A lot of mammals hibernate when it get cold! Then, we can just go and get them all when they're hibernating."

"Vormians don't hibernate," Kara said, shaking her head. "They're like rats on Earth; they're active year round." Then, as she mentioned that, she paused. She took a moment to think. "But…" she said, standing up. "But…we can use the environmental controls to herd them!" A smile spread over her face.

"You have an idea?" Corin asked.

"I have an idea," Kara answered.

-.-

"You want me to what?" Chen coughed.

"Freeze the station," Kara said through her radio. "Freeze everything except the gate room."

"Sure, let's just freeze the station; what could possibly go wrong!?" Chen exclaimed.

"Doctor, I don't understand what your intention is," General Mercer said through the radio from the control room. He had his hands folded behind his back as the other technicians around him continued about their business.

"Thus far, the vormians have displayed behavior similar to rats on Earth," Osborn explained. "When it's cold, rats simply take shelter in the warmer areas, buildings, cars…"

"She's hoping that if we make the rest of the city really cold, it'll herd all the vormians into the gate room," Chen finished.

"Then, all we have to do is dial a planet and shoo them all through!" Osborn said excitedly.

"We already lost half our food, you want us to lose half our equipment too?!" Chen interjected.

"Doctor?" Mercer asked, not sure what Steve was saying. "Will the cold damage our equipment?"

"It's not the cold; these emotionless machines love the cold," Chen explained.

"Which explains your temperature preference," Osborn commented. She would swear she heard Chen growling through the radio when he heard that comment.

"Doctor Chen, continue," Mercer interrupted.

"It's the condensation," Chen said. "When we return the Millennium back to normal temperatures, the water build up might short circuit our computers."

"Aren't there ways to prevent that?" Martin asked, surprised that Chen didn't have some brilliant idea how to protect their equipment.

"Yeah, but we have so much stuff that there's no way we can save all of it; it'd be too difficult. Maybe about…half."

"We may not have a choice, Doctor," Mercer pointed out. Corin suddenly cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Which planet are we going to send them to?" he asked. "I won't pretend to know much about the environment and ecosystem but…wouldn't sending so many vormians destabilize the ecosystem?"

"Doctor Osborn, care to elaborate?" Mercer asked. Osborn gave an exasperated sigh as she tried to figure out how to put it.

"It's predation; ecosystems have a balance between predators and prey," she said. "Each one determines the other's population. Introducing a few animals into an ecosystem wouldn't affect much; but, if we introduce too many of one we can destabilize the entire ecosystem."

"I hardly see how that's our problem," Chen barked when he heard this. "They're off the station, end of story."

"Even if you don't care about the whole environment thing, we can't just screw around with other planets!" Osborn snapped. "In the labs back on Earth, simulations and tests showed entire species going extinct because of a destabilizing ecosystem."

"Doctor Osborn," Mercer spoke up. "My first and only concern is this expedition. If you have an answer for this, I'm all ears."

"We just need a planet with a predator population large enough that releasing all these creatures wouldn't affect it. We also need to make sure the vormians are native to that planet so we don't introduce an invasive species."

"You want us to start probing planets for this, Doctor?" Mercer asked. He wanted the vormians off the station as soon as possible and was not going to wait for them to just randomly stumble on the best planet.

"We already found it," Kara said excitedly. "P5X-989." Everyone on the channel took a moment to think about what planet she was talking about.

"Wait a minute," Martin said. "That's the planet we visited a week ago; the one with all the plants!" Chen took another moment before he realized which one Martin was talking about.

"You mean the plants that tried to kill us?" Chen asked.

"That's the one!" Kara said. "I've studied its ecosystem and it has a massive predator count, both animal and plant. The prey count is just as high. We introduce the vormians into that ecosystem; it won't be affected."

"You'd be condemning them to death!" Solotov suddenly cried out, standing up from his chair.

"Whenever you release an animal back into the wild, you're exposing it to the chance of being killed in nature," Kara stated. "The only other option is to kill them all in the gate room."

"That's a waste of this expedition's resources," Mercer said when he heard this. "Doctor Chen, proceed with the plan."

"And what about our equipment!?" Chen asked. "We freeze the station we might lose our computers." Corin took a moment to think.

"Maybe we don't have to freeze the station," he said. Kara looked at him in surprise. "It's a little bit more complicated but if we begin adjusting the temperatures starting with the edge of the central city and start moving inward, we can herd all the vormians to the gate room. Once the vormians are away from the edge, we can return it to regular temperatures and keep moving the cold front to push them to the gate room."

"And we can move our computer equipment to avoid the front," Chen finished.

"Everyone working in the cold areas or around the control room should wear protective gear," Osborn advised. "That many creatures in one spot means an increased chance of infection."

"The HAZARD suits we found should do the trick," Corin said.

"Get it done, Doctors," Mercer ordered. Chen just grumbled, knowing this was not going to be an easy task.

In the control room, Mercer motioned toward the control panel and pressed the intercom.

"Attention all personnel," he announced. "For the next few days, we're going be performing a rather complicated operation to remove the creatures that have recently taken shelter here. Instructions will be relayed to you via the intercom. Obey all orders and we can get by as painlessly as possible."

Chen and Osborn continued working to get everything in place. Manipulating the station's environment was no easy task and they worked round the clock to make sure they didn't make any mistakes.

They started with the outer rim, taking the temperatures to the freezing point, and slowly began to move the cold front toward the center of the station. It was a long and tedious process. They had to make sure all the vormians had fled from the cold and were not still seeking shelter. The control room monitored the station and watched as the alien life signs were herded toward them. People moved around the city via the arks trying to avoid the front. All bags and packages were scanned to make sure no vormians hitched a ride through the ark. The process was tedious to say the least and time consuming. As the area the vormians could live in got smaller, they began to flood the hallways.

"This is just plain ridiculous," Martin said in the control room. He was no longer wearing his usual gear but was in an Alliance HAZARD suit, a rigid gray suit with a wedge-shaped helmet. Two green veins of energy ran across the front of his helmet, scanning the area in front of him and providing the readings on a heads-up display inside.

"What is it?" Nova, who was right beside him, asked. Her suit was similar to his but her helmet was in the shape of a dome and a single purple vein of light ran across her helmet like a visor.

"When I joined the bloody Stargate Program, I did not think I would have to wade through an ocean of alien animals," Martin exclaimed as he looked at his feet. Hundreds of vormians covered the ground, squeaking and squealing obnoxiously. The entire room and even the gate room were flooded by the alien animals. Martin didn't know where they were all hiding before but he could tell that it must not have been a very sanitary location. A lot of them were covered in grime and left trails of gray slush as they crawled across the floor. The HAZARD suits had its own air supply but Martin could only imagine the smell.

Nova continued working at the control panel, ready to dial the gate. "At least the Asgard made these really cool suits."

"They were probably designed so any of the four races could wear them," Nova commented. "Asgard bodies wouldn't exactly it in a hazmat suit."

-.-

In the environmental control center, Chen had also been geared up and was wearing his own HAZARD suit. His helmet had the shape of an Asgard's head and two red triangles of energy glowed at the front like a pair of glaring eyes.

"That should be about it," Chen said through the radio.

Nova looked at the HUD in her suit.

"According to the suits, the cold air is leaking into the control and gate room," she said.

"And what do you want me to do about it?" Chen snapped as he continued working at the controls. "General Mercer, according to the life signs detector all the vormians are located around the gate room."

"Excellent," Mercer said through the radio. "We'll continue monitoring from the auxiliary control room. Dial the gate and get the rats off my station."

"Got it," Chen said with a nod.

"Dialing the gate," Nova said as she began punching the symbols into the DHD. One by one, the round chevrons on the gate lit up, the inner ring spinning to find the next symbol. Finally, the wormhole formed with a mighty kawoosh as the massive wave surged forth then flew back in.

"That never gets old," Martin chuckled with a smile as the shimmering light of the event horizon lit up the room.

"Now what?" Nova asked when she saw the gate open. "How are we going to get these guys through?"

"We may not have to," Martin pointed out, leaning over the railing that overlooked the gate room. Nova looked at the gate and saw what Martin was talking about. All the vormians had begun huddling around the gate and going through the event horizon.

"They're going through the gate on their own?" Nova stuttered in surprise.

"It's the warmth of the gate," Osborn suddenly said through the radio. "The cold air from the surrounding halls is leaking into the gate room. The gate's warmer than the environment around it so the vormians are huddling near the gate for warmth."

"And accidentally going through," Martin finished with an unseen smile as the mass of rats poured through the gate. He could not describe the relief and excitement he felt as he watched the vormians pour into the event horizon. It wasn't long until there were only a few vormians left huddled by the ring of the gate and Martin and Nova easily just shoved them through the wormhole. With nothing left, the gate finally shut down.

"That should be all of them," Nova announced as the shimmering puddle of water seemed to evaporate.

"We aren't detecting any more vormians in the station," Donavan said over the radio. "We got them all."

Martin gave a sigh of relief and almost just plopped onto the floor but stopped when the saw it covered in black water, muck, and slime.

"Who's the cleanup crew gonna blame for this one?" he jokingly wondered out loud when he saw the carpet of slime on the floor.

-.-

With the vormians gone, life on the station could return to normal. It took a while. The trails of grease and slime had to be cleaned up. The dead vormians had to be removed from the ventilation shafts. They had to take inventory to see how much stuff was damaged. After all this was done, Mercer called the heads of all the departments into the conference room for another meeting.

The conference room was buzzing with chatter as the General emerged from his office, his arms folded behind his back, his face stern. The room fell quickly fell silent as he slowly made his way to the other end of the U-shaped table and took his seat.

"Now then," he said, folding his hands in front of him. "We started this expedition in the hopes of discovering a new realm to explore; a realm created by all the races of the Alliance of Four Great Races. However, it seems we have encountered more than a few setbacks." Mercer watched as several people instinctively nodded or whispered to the person next to them. "We may be here in this galaxy to explore and advance humanity's understanding of the universe, but survival is our first priority. However, the two goals are not mutually exclusive." Mercer paused a moment as if he was analyzing the room's reaction.

"We have lost over half our food supply and the vormians have caused extensive damage to this station," he continued. "While we can repair them with the resources we brought from Earth, the SGC's and Atlantis's history has shown us to expect it to happen again. Without any contact with Earth, we must find these resources throughout the galaxy. The missions we run through the stargate will twofold: to not only seek allies and technology to advance our understanding but to scavenge for food and supplies. I am going to need each and every one of you to put what we bring back to good use."

Hearing this, Chen finally spoke up.

"I may constantly criticize the engineering team, but these are the best engineers in three galaxies. Bring back any piece of technology and we'll put it to good use."

"Good to hear," General Mercer said with a smile. "The vormians have also damaged our galaxy map, which, as you know, holds the locations of all the planets in this galaxy and have marked out which ones have stargates and descriptions of that planet. We were able to salvage the gate addresses but the descriptions of the planets are now gone. We are going to have to refill the galaxy map from scratch. We will want to put in not only a description of the environment around the gate but the different biomes of the planet as well as the animals that live on it."

"General," Osborn said. "If the team could bring back samples of alien animals or even the bodies of alien animals, we can make some massive breakthroughs in the medical field." Some of the people in the room whispered to each other when they heard this, not wanting another vormian incident.

"As long as protocol is followed, I can allow it," Mercer said with a nod.

"We're also going to need to address the military concerns," Nova pointed out. "The Ror'char is this galaxy's superpower and their weapons and armor is giving us a run for our money."

"I think we should, if possible, bring some back," Chen suggested. "We could armor or guns like theirs."

"There may even be ways of recreating it," a voice suddenly said. Everyone turned around and saw a rather short blonde woman sitting at the back, her hair in a ponytail behind her head.. "The Millennium has factories in the civilian sectors. If we get enough resources, maybe we can use them."

"And what do you suggest we do about the power requirements, Major Hailey?" Chen asked.

Hailey just shrugged.

"Naquadah isn't native to this galaxy but quarium does have properties similar to that of naquadah," she babbled. "If we bring back quarium from our missions, I can adapt our naquadah generators to process it or just put more into the quarium generator we have and power the civilian sectors."

"Will it be enough to gate back to Earth?" Mercer asked, intrigued by this revelation.

"No, sir," Hailey answered. "But, it can help us get a better footing in this station."

"Might help us survive," Chen corrected. "Just about all the departments have some sort of research project they want to do but lack the materials and resources. A little Ror'char or Alliance tech should get it off the ground."

"The technology we hope to bring back will include but is not limited to Ror'char or Alliance technology," Mercer said. "We are more than just an expedition; we are a colony, and everything we need to survive is through that gate. We need to look after ourselves. I trust you all realize your responsibilities. Dismissed."

Everyone immediately got up and prepared to leave. Mercer was in no hurry; his office was right beside the conference room. He slowly got to his feet and folded his hands behind his back as he made his way back to his office.

"Doctor Solotov," Mercer greeted when he saw Yuri Solotov standing at the door.

"General," Solotov said as he followed Mercer into his office. "I need to talk to you."

"Did you hide another vormian mind my back?" Mercer asked bluntly as he took a seat behind his desk. He slowly took some china out from a drawer in his desk and poured himself a cup of tea.

"No," Solotov quickly said. "I wanted…I wanted to apologize." Mercer paused when he heard this, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"Really?" Mercer asked bluntly.

"Yes," Solotov answered. "I let excitement turn into stupidity and it nearly cost this entire expedition. I'm sorry for calling the soldiers in this expedition trigger-happy, brain-dead jarheads and the regulations they follow have merit. I was wrong, and you were right."

Mercer took a moment to think, staring into his cup of tea.

"Apology accepted," Mercer said. Solotov smiled when he heard this. "Under one condition," the General quickly added. Solotov's smile vanished when he heard this.

Mercer pushed a button on the side of his desk and a panel slid open on the top beside his stack of papers. General Mercer gently blew into the panel that had just been revealed. All across the station, people heard the feedback and ringing of the blowing air over the intercom.

Mercer smiled as he looked at Solotov and said, "Say that again."

-.-

Chen looked grumpier than usual in the infirmary.

"Remind me again why this is necessary," he grumbled as Osborn took out a syringe from a case.

"Our latest house guests weren't exactly sanitary," she said cheerfully. "Just a few inoculations to make sure no one is still carrying a virus they left behind."

"Or parasites?" Chen asked.

"You can't use shots to deal with parasites," Osborn pointed out.

"What are you going to do with the parasites you extracted?" Chen wondered.

"Well, as long as follow protocol, Mercer has allowed us to keep and study them." Just as Osborn said this, a strange growling barking could be heard from down the hall.

"Though," she added. "Some are growing faster than others." Chen and Osborn both looked as Kauffmann entered the room with a rather large jar, filled with water, in his hand and a fat worm-like creature with a mouth full of teeth trashing around inside.

Chen grumbled as he stuck out his hand for the injection.

"New syringe?" he asked when he saw the strange looking needle.

"Made from Alliance tech," she said proudly. "Delivers the injection without puncturing the skin. Still in prototype stages though."

"Does it still hurt?" Chen asked. "I hate needles."

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt anymore," she said.

"Good," Chen said. Suddenly he roared in pain as the shot went in, nearly falling off the chair.

"Yeah, I lied about that," Doctor Osborn said as she walked away. Chen just gave an agitated growl as he walked away. A few of the nurses cleared a path, not wanting to deal with a pissed of Steven Chen.

"Doctor," a voice suddenly said. Kara turned around and saw Nova in her off duty blue t-shirt and jeans standing behind her.

"Your turn," Osborn said as she took out another syringe.

"I heard Chen yelling," Nova said with a small laugh as she took a seat. "Did it hurt?"

"It strings," Osborn warned. "We'll do it on the count of three." Nova nodded acknowledgement.

"3…2…1…"

Nova flinched as the injection went in now that she was prepared for what 'sting'.

"Guess I know what Chen was yelling about," Nova commented as she stood back up. "Thought another person suggested another name for our team."

Osborn laughed at this.

"Why don't you pick a name?" she asked Nova. "I don't think you ever suggested a name for them."

"I'm leaving them to pick a name," Nova said with a smile.

"You're the commanding officer," Osborn said. "It's your team; why shouldn't you get to name it?"

"Well, Corin, Martin, and Chen have been talking about this all day," Nova shrugged. "Well…Martin did most of the talking. Chen did all the criticizing. Corin only laughed."

"Your boys are trying harder than you are," Osborn remarked.

"At least I didn't have to break them up again."

Kara laughed when she heard this.

"You're like a wolf mother protecting her pups," she remarked. "I gotta get back to work."

"Sure," Nova said, turning to leave. "A wolf mother protecting her pups," she scoffed in amusement as she left the infirmary. But, as she went through the doors, she took another moment to think about it.

-.-

The shimmering light of the stargate cast a warm glow across the gate room where Corin, Martin, and Chen stood, geared up for the next mission.

"Gentlemen," Nova greeted as she walked into the gate room, P90 in hand, her ponytail bouncing as she walked in. The three of them looked up, ready to disembark. "General Mercer, we're good down here!" Nova shouted up to the control room.

"Excellent," Mercer announced from the balcony in the control room. "Wolf Pack, you have a go!"

Nova looked at her team who gave her a single nod of approval. They looked at the stargate and marched forth into the wormhole to the unknown.


End file.
